New Brunswick RCMP said in early October 2014 that they'd written almost 600 distracted driving tickets so far in the year. That's roughly on pace with the number from 2013, which totaled 763. The fine for violating New Brunswick's distracted driving regulations is $172.50 plus three points against the driver's license. New Brunswick RCMP reported that in the first full year of the distracted driving law, they'd issued more than 672 tickets. "There are still New Brunswickers who continue to use handheld devices while driving, or who have gone back to their old habit of doing so," a New … [Read more...]
‘If Lives Are in Your Hands … ‘
March 16, 2011 by 1 Comment
What if your surgeon decided to do a little text messaging while you're there on the operating table? That's the (rhetorical) question posed by short-filmmaker David McDonald, recently honored for the safety PSA video below. McDonald, 24, won $7,800 (CAN) worth of filmmaking tools in the distracted driving category of a short-film contest sponsored by the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia. "I looked at texting and driving and what that really is -- it is a dangerous thing operating a heavy vehicle that could kill," McDonald told the Westminster News Leader on March 16. … [Read more...]
British Columbia: Distracted driving news
January 24, 2011 by 10 Comments
A Prince George woman has won her appeal of her distracted driving conviction for using a two-way radio. The British Columbia Supreme Court sided with Tania Lousia Shelford, who protested that her radio was attached to her van. A lower court had rejected the appeal saying the microphone she used was not fixed to the van, but justices found it was. "The hand unit is just the microphone for the user and the receiver is the mounted radio unit to which (the microphone) is connected," the high court found in late May 2021. In Victoria, a 24-year-old driver who stuck and injured a young … [Read more...]
Alberta: Distracted driving news
January 24, 2011 by 4 Comments
Alberta's justice minister is under investigation following a phone call to Edmonton's police chief regarding a distracted driving ticket the minister received. He has taken a leave of absence in the matter. “To be abundantly clear, at no point did I request that the ticket be rescinded,” Kaycee Madu said in a statement. “I would never do that." He said in mid-January 2022 that he regretted "raising the issue at all" with the police chief. The ticket for cell phone use was issued in a school zone. Madu, who is black, said he was concerned he was racially profiled and that the citation could … [Read more...]
Canadians: Ban phones, save money
October 3, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The distracted driving debate rarely comes down to money, but a Canadian study finds that a ban on cell phones can have economic benefits in addition to saving lives. The University of Calgary's Faculty of Medicine says its home province of Alberta could produce an annual savings of $36 million a year by instituting a cell phone ban. The breakdown is $6 million in lower health care costs and $30 million in savings on clearing away wreckage from vehicle crashes. The lead researcher called the revenue proposition "a no-brainer" for the province. But the costs of a ban on using cell phones … [Read more...]
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